Who Is Sushil Chandra, The New Election Commissioner?

CBDT chairman Chandra is a 1980 batch officer of the IRS.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra was on Thursday appointed as an Election Commissioner, the Law Ministry said.

Here’s what you need to know about Chandra

— Chandra, an IIT graduate, is a 1980 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre).

— According to The Economic Times, his term as chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will end in May 2019. He got two extensions after being appointed on 1 November, 2016.

The decision to extend his term last year, according to PTI, was taken in order to provide continuity as the CBDT was the forefront of combating black money.

— Chandra is said to have played a key role in Centre’s demonetisation exercise. An IRS officer told The Print that Chandra has been at the forefront of government’s attempts to unearth black money.

The officer told The Print, “He was both member (investigation) and CBDT chairman at the time of demonetisation, so he played a key role during the income tax raids that followed the exercise.”

— Chandra’s brother-in-law Arvind Goel was being probed last month for allegedly buying and selling about 200 acres of land parcels in Moradabad through suspected black money in a series of transactions between 2004 and 2017, The Economic Times had reported.

— With Chandra’s appointment, the Election Commission now has Sunil Arora as the Chief Election Commissioner and Ashok Lavasa and Chandra as fellow commissioners.